Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon [An Angel Comes to Babylon]

Roger A. Crockett (Washington and Lee University)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.2: German-language Writing and Culture: Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, 800-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1978

Places

Switzerland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s fifth play and his third comedy, Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon [An Angel Comes to Babylon, 1954], was written in 1952, first published in 1954, and subsequently appeared in revised editions in 1958 and 1980.

God’s grace comes to earth in the form of Kurrubi, a beautiful child, created only minutes before in God’s abode, the Andromeda Galaxy, which dominates the backdrop. The child is a gift to the lowliest human on earth, and it is the assignment of an angel to find the intended recipient, about whom he knows nothing other than that this person must be a beggar. As King Nebuchadnezzar has ordered all beggars to enter state service, there is only one beggar left on earth, the …

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1470 words

Citation: Crockett, Roger A.. "Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=19935, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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